Imagine you’re in the audience at a conference and the speaker tells you that they will speak for precisely fifteen minutes of their slot, allowing five minutes for Q&A. And then they actually do that. Wouldn’t that be refreshing? Wouldn’t you be grateful to that speaker for their consideration of you and what you want? Well, you could be that speaker.
You must never over-run. If you do then you’ll:
- waste time allocated for your Q&A, the next speaker or the coffee break.
- look unprepared and unprofessional.
To avoid over-running, you need to rehearse properly:
- deliver the whole thing in full, at your natural speaking pace.
- use a dedicated presentation timer app (I use one on my android phone called ‘Swan‘) to keep on track.
- edit the material so that the words you’re using are conversational. Then, while giving the presentation, you can extend or curtail a section if necessary in a way that feels natural.
Respect other people’s time and they’ll probably be more prepared to give it to you.
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